Other Times: June 2

Monday, June 2, 2014

100 YEARS AGO  1914

Morton school directors used the Act of 1911, which empowers them to raise taxes whenever necessary, to hike the school tax rate to 25 mills. Morton was believed to be the first borough in the state to take advantage of the opportunity. The millage was split  1 ½ mills went to the sinking fund; 7 ½ mills went to the general fund and 16 mills funded building purposes. The directors used the tax to raise the funding needed to erect a new school building.

75 YEARS AGO  1939

Forbes Magazine included Chester among its list of the top ten cities in which business improvement had been outstanding. Chester joined Jacksonville, Fla.; Savannah, Ga.; Charlotte, N.C.; Little Rock, Ark.; St. Joseph, Mo.; Portland, Me.; Montgomery Ala.; Kalamazoo, Mich.; and Columbia, S.C. Business in those cities compared more favorably with the same time as the previous year than at any previous occasion since November 1937, according to Forbes.

50 YEARS AGO 1964

Darby Borough Council sought to combine action by all boroughs protesting the Cobbs Creek Expressway. Council asked its secretary write to Collingdale, Aldan, Sharon Hill, Yeadon and Colwyn to request a joint meeting of all officials to plan a united strategy for fighting the proposed highway. The construction of the $60 million highway would require 50 homes and one apartment to be razed in Darby Borough, which Arthur R. Grow said would cause a loss of $120,000 annually in tax revenue.

25 YEARS AGO  1989

Upper Chichester Police Department began using Extrasenosory Perception to trap speeding motorists, becoming the first municipality in Delaware County to utilize the technology. The ESP Model TK 100 timed the speed of vehicles with infrared beams, which are impervious to radar detectors. the system has an internal testing mechanism to ensure that it is accurate and is re-calibrated every 60 days. It emits a tone if the beams are improperly aligned. The lightweight, portable unit cost about $2,500 and was obtained through a grant from the state Transportation Department.

10 YEARS AGO  2004

Darby Borough Mayor Paula Brown camped out beside her office in police headquarters to ensure the locks to her office were not changed. Council members, including president Janice Davis, had tried to boot Brown from her office several days earlier, saying they needed the space to house new police equipment. Dubbed Camp Freedom, Brown camped alongside supporters while a handful of news crews watched. I cant say here forever, but these people violated a court order that established my right to have an office here and Im not going to let them kick me out, Brown said.